Tailor
Excellent
The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
Shoalhaven River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
From the gorge to the sea: the tidal Shoalhaven from Nowra to Shoalhaven Heads and Crookhaven, a river of bream, flathead, jew and bass.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~18 °C est.
Air / High
15 °C / 28 °C
Wind
WNW 5 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Shoalhaven River is in its cool-water rhythm: slower presentations and the warmest hours of the day. Today brings a mixed sky, wind WNW around 5 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 28 °C. Water sits around 18 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Bream
Fair
Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Fair
Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Fair
The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 28 °C with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
New South Wales requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$7.00. New South Wales fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing bream here? Check the size and bag limits with DPIRD NSW before you keep anything; the Bream page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Shoalhaven River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:45), sunset (17:58), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Bureau of Meteorology station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp15 °C
High / Low28 °C / 12 °C
WindWNW 5 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure1026.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain47% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset05:45 / 17:58
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~18 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Shoalhaven River
The best day on Shoalhaven River this week looks like Saturday 26 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Saturday, 26 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:45 to 17:58
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Shoalhaven River: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Bream
Year-round; summer and autumn in the estuaries, winter at the mouths
Yellowfin bream on the east coast, black bream in the southern estuaries. Structure fish: rock walls, jetty piles, oyster racks, snags and pontoons. Slow the retrieve right down: blades and lightly weighted plastics along the deeper rock walls and drop-offs, or unweighted bait drifted into the snags.
Flathead
Best: November to April
Dusky flathead in the eastern estuaries, sand flathead in the southern bays. An ambush predator lying on sand and mud edges waiting for whatever the tide brings. Fish the deeper channels and the last of the run-out; slower hops with a heavier jighead, and a bait on the bottom as back-up.
Mulloway
Best: summer and autumn, especially after rain
Jewfish. The big silver prize of the estuaries, breakwalls and surf beaches: nocturnal, tide-driven and unforgiving of noise. The estuary fish move to the deeper reaches. Long, quiet sessions on the bottom with fresh bait across the top of the tide.
Tailor
Autumn and winter on the east coast; August to September on Fraser Island
The surf and rock fish of the east coast, running north in autumn and winter. Fast, toothy and best at dawn, dusk and into the dark. The main run. Fish the gutters and headlands into the evening; ganged pilchards, metals, and a wire-free trace only if you accept the bite-offs.
When to come: the Shoalhaven River calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bream
Flathead
Mulloway
Tailor
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 18 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Shoalhaven River today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 27 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Tailor led the card at excellent. High of 14 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
NSW Recreational Fishing Fee, from A$7.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by DPIRD NSW and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the New South Wales licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees.
About this water
Shoalhaven River is a river in New South Wales, Australia, covered from the New South Wales reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Shoalhaven River: the full guide
The river
The Shoalhaven River rises on the Southern Tablelands and cuts through a gorge to reach the coastal plain at Nowra, from where it runs tidal past Nowra’s bridges and rock walls, through the farmland and the islands of the lower river, to the sea at Shoalhaven Heads, with the Crookhaven arm and the breakwalls at Greenwell Point giving it a second, permanent mouth. It is a big river with something for every angler: bass in the gorge, bream and flathead in the tidal reaches, mulloway in the deep bends and the Crookhaven, and the oyster leases of the lower river. Nowra has its own page; this one is scored for the river.
Species and seasons
Bream are the river’s year-round fish along the walls, the leases and the snags, with the winter run to the mouths; flathead lie on the sand of the lower river and the flats from spring to autumn; mulloway are the night fish of the deep bends, the bridges and the Crookhaven breakwalls; and whiting fish the flats and the Heads sand in summer. Australian bass hold in the fresh reaches above Nowra and the gorge, with the NSW closed season for bass in rivers from June to August; luderick fish the walls in winter; tailor and salmon run the mouths in the cooler months; and prawns run on the dark nights of summer.
Reading this report for the river
The river runs on the tide to Nowra and the tide panel, a modelled curve for these coordinates labelled as a model, is the thing to read for the bream on the run and the jew on the change; the Bureau of Meteorology has the official times. Rain matters, because a fresh from the gorge colours the river for days and pushes the fish downstream. Pressure and sky build the score and the planner shows the night to take.
Licence, access and rules
The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days; our New South Wales licence page has the fees. The river parks at Nowra, the breakwalls at Greenwell Point and the Heads foreshore are public, with ramps at Nowra, Greenwell Point, Shoalhaven Heads and along the lower river; the DPIRD limits and the bass closed season are on the pages in the sources.
Common questions
What can I catch in the Shoalhaven River?
Bream and flathead in the tidal reaches, mulloway at night, whiting in summer, luderick on the walls in winter, prawns on the dark summer nights and bass in the fresh reaches.
Do I need a fishing licence on the Shoalhaven?
Yes. The NSW Recreational Fishing Fee applies, from A$7 for three days.
Is fishing good at Shoalhaven River right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.